Emergency-brake.



J. W. OGONNOR. EMERGENCY BRAKE.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

" 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. W. OCONNOR. EMERGENCY BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 15, 1914.

1 ,1 22,532, Patented Dec. 29, 1914.-

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. W. O'CONNOR. EMERGENCY BRAKE.

APPLIOATIOH FILED MAY 15,1914.

llllllllrlllllzr l l II i II!! 1 I I II atented Dec. 29,1914.

J OHN W. GCONNUR, 6F ELMIRA, NEW YGRK.

amendment-Beam.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application and May 15, 191.4. Serial no. seam e.

State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inEmergency-Brakes of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an emergency brake which is intended to beoperated by a portion of the brake carried by the wheel of an automobileand normally held in an inoperative position by the air in the tireof-the wheel. With this device the brake can be applied automatically ifa blow-out or puncture occurs thereby preventing danger of accidents dueto the automobile getting beyond the control of the operator.

This device will also prevent'danger of re ceiving rim cuts by runningon a fiat tire.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an emergency brakeattachment which is so constructed that the brake will be setautomatically but which will not interfere with the brake being operatedby the usual foot lever.

-Anotherobject of the invention is to so construct the wheel portion ofthe device that it will be normally held in an inoperative position. bythe pressure of the air in the tire and to so construct it so that itwill be moved to an operative position when the air pressure in the tiredecreases beyond a certain amount.

Another object of the invention is to so construct the wheel attachmentthat it may be moved to an operative position when desired by turning avalve thus permitting the deviccto be set when the operator leaves themachine and preventing an unauthorized person from operatingthe machine.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved cylinderforming part of the attachment and to provide'iinproved means forreleasably holding the rod passing through the cylinder in aninoperative position so that the brakes will be normally tachmentconnected with the Wheel and in w an operative position for engaging thelever of a flexible shaft carried by the axle; Fig. 3 is a vertical.sectional view through. the wheel'attachment; Fig. 4 is a View inelevation of the brake cylinder forming part of this invention; Fig. 5is a view of the brake cylinder shown partially in longitudinal sectionand partially in elevation; and Fig. 6 is a View in elevation of theflexible shaft carried by the axle.

When applying'this device to an automobile a wheel attachment is appliedto each of the wheels and a flexible shaft. is applied to each endportion of each of the axles so that the emergency brake can be appliedno matter which of the tires receives a puncture or blow out. it is onlynecessar however, to provide one brake cylinder which brake cylinderwill be operated from whichever flexible shaft is moved to an operativeposition. The flexible shafts and wheel attachments are duplicates andtherefore only one has been shown in the drawings.

The wheel attachment is provided with a cylindrical casing 10 from whichthere extends ears or leaves 11 between which the lever '12ispivotallymounted by means of a pin' 1-3 which passes through its head14;.

This head it .is provided with teeth 15' whichmesh with the teeth of aplunger 16 slidably mounted in the casing 10 and normally held in anoperative position by means of the spring 17. [This spring 17 is seatedin a pocket 18 formed in the plunger 16 and has its lower end bearingagainst a threaded plug 19 by-means of which the ten sion of the spring17 may be regulated A tubular rod 20 is slidablymounted in the casing 10and passes through the glands 21 into the pocket 22 formed in theplunger 16 and has its inner end connected with an air sack 23preferably formed of rubber or similar material which will hold air;When the sack 23 is inflated the-pressure of the air will hold theplunger in the position shown in Fig. 3- but when the pressure of theair is removed the spring 17 will move the plunger upwardly and swingthe lever or trigger 12 to the position shown in Fig. 2 so that it; canengage the flexible shaft whichwill be'hereinafter described. Thistubular rod ZO'carriesadjacent its outer end Patented nee. 2e, ieie.

a three-way valve 24 which is normally left in a position so that airfrom {the tire 25 can pass through the flexible tube 26 into the rod 20into the air sack 23. It will thus be seen that if the tire is puncturedor receives a blow-out the air pressure will be released and the spring17 will move the plunger 16 upwardly and swing the trigger 12 to theposition shown in Fig. 2. If it is desired to release the air in thesack 23 without the air being released from the tires thethree-way-valve 24 may be turned by a suitable key, thus permitting theair to escape from the sack 23 through the valve and thus permitting theplunger to move to a position to swing the trigger to an operative positon. Upon each end of the axle 27 there is provided a flexible shaftcomprising the outer section 28, inner section 29 and intermediatesection 30 connected with the inner and outer sections by means of theknuckle joints 31. The outer section 28 is rotatably connected with theaxle by means of the bracket 32 and is normally held in the positionshown in Fig. 2 by means of spring 33 so that its outer end which isformed into a lever 34 will extend in a position to be engaged bytrigger 12 when moved to the operative position as shown in Fig. 2. Thefree end of the inner section is formed into a finger which is connectedwith a line or wire "36 shown in Figs. 4 and 5. It will thus be seenthat when the trigger 12 engages lever 34 it will move the lever againstthe tension of the spring 33 and rotate the flexible shaft so that thefinger 35 will be moved to'draw upon wire 36 and operate the brakecylinder. The brake cylinder 37 is rigidly secured bymeans of bolts orother securing device passing through the ears 38 and is provided withan arm or extension 39 with which the lever 40 is pivotally connected bymeans of pin 41. This lever40 has one end connected with the wire 36 andhas the opposite end connected with the wire 42 which leads to a pointwhere it may be easily reached by the operator of the automobile. Itwill thus be seen that when the lever is moved by the wire 36 or by wire42 the catch 43 which is carried by lever 40 will be moved out ofengagement with tooth 44 and thus release shaft 45. The lower portion oflever 40 is engaged by spring 46 mounted in the spring housing 47 and isthus normally held in a positionto engage tooth 44 when the shaft. is inthe position shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

' The shaft is slidably mounted and extends through the cylindor37n asshown in Fig. 5 and carries a piston head 48 provided with a cup 49formed of leather or other suitable material. This piston 48 is engagedb one end of a spring 50 mounted in the nee 51 of cylinder 37 andcompresses the air inthepist'on when tooth 44 is released fromenga'ement by catch 43 so that the movement of the shaft 45 will be reducedand thus prevent the brakes from being set toosuddenly. A out or groove52- is provided in; shaft 45 so that after t .e shaft type but must beof such a construction that p it may be operated by either one of tworods such as shown at 58 and 59. The rod 58 sets the brake when theautomatic device is operated and the rod 59 sets the brake when thebrake is operated by the foot lever connectedwith wire 42. In order tomove the rods 58 and 59 there is provided a lever 60 which is pivotallymounted by any suitable bracket such as indicated at 61. and pivotallycon nected with the collar 62 carried by shaft 45 and an arm 63 whichhas its sleeve 64 mounted on the shaft 45 and releasably held in anadjusted position by set screws 65. Collars 66 and 67 are carried .byrods 58 and 59 and are engaged by lever 60 and arms 63 respectively whenthe brake is set. If a puncture is received or if the valve 24 is turnedto an open position the air will pass out of the sack 23 and the plunger16 will be moved to shown in Fig. 2 thus causing the lever 34 to bemoved to rotate the flexible shaft carried by the axle and swing thefinger 35 to draw upon wire 36. This will move lever 40 to a position toraise catch 43 0ut of engagement with tooth 44 and thus release theshaft or rod 45 and permit the spring 50 to expand and move the shaftlongitudinally. As the shaft moves longitudinally the lever 60 will berocked upon its pin 68 and engage the collar 66 to move rod 58longitudinally and set the brake. The brake can therefore be quickly setautomatically in case a puncture is received or a blow-out occurs andthe machine quickly brought to a standstill. It will also be noted thatif the valve 24 is open the machine cannot be moved since the brake willbe set by the trigger engaging lever 34 and therefore the automobilecannot be operated by unauthorized persons. After the puncture has beenrepaired or the valve 24 returned to its normal position the sack 23will again be filled with air and plunger 16 returnedto the positionshown in Fig. 3, thus swinging trigger 12 to an inoperative position andreleasing lever 34 so that the spring 33 can return the flexible shaftto its normal position and permit the spring 47 to ,move the lever 40 toits normal posltion so that the catch 43 will engage the tooth 44 whenthe shaft 45 is returned to its normal position. Y I

In order to return the shaft 45 to its norswlng trigger 12 to theoperative position menses secs some obstruction in the way or desires toquickly stop the automobile in order to prevent danger of'a collisionwith a person or some other vehicle the wire 42 may he drawn byoperating a suitable footlever' thus moving the lever and raisingthecatch 3 to a position to release tooth i4 and permit shaft 45 to movelongitudinally and bring arm into engagement with collar 6'? thus movingthe rod 59 to set the emergency oral:

It will of course be obvious that the brake may be operated by eitherrod 59 or 58,.rod 58 losing set by the automatic mechanism and rod 59being usually operated by a foot treadle in the body portion of theautomobile. (if course when the automatic mechanism is operated it willmove rod 59 at the same time it moves the rod 58 out this will notinterfere with the operation of the brake. will thus be seen theemergency brake can he oper ated either automatically or manually andthereby permit the operator of the automobile to stop the machinequickly and also permit machine to he quickly brought to a stop in caseof a blow-out or puncture thus preventing danger of the machine turningover and also preventing danger of the tire receiving a rim cut fromrunning upon fiat tire.

What is claimed is:- y

l. A brake operating" system comprising a cylinder, slidable shaftpassing through said cylinder, a piston head carried by said shaftwithinsaid cylinder, resilient means yieldahly holding said shaft in anoperative position, a hrahe rod connected with said shaft, means formoving said shaft to an inoperative position, a pawl engaging saidshaft'to i'elsasably hold the same in an inoperative position, and meansfor moving said pawl to release said shaft;

2. In a brake operating system a cylinder, a slidahle shaft passingthrough said cylinder, a piston head carried by said shaft within saidcylinder, a spring encircling said shaft within said cylinder andhavins? one end engaging said piston head and the other end engagingsaid cylinder to yieldably hold said shaft in an operative po sition, ahrs-ice rod connected with said shaft and means for releasahly holdingsaid shaft in inoperative position. v

3. In a brake operating system a cylinder,

a slidahle shaft passing through said cylinder' and provided with apiston head within said cylinder.v means for yieldablv holdrag saidsssfo in an operative position, a

pawl pivotally connected with said 'cyl inder and yieldably held in aposition to engage said shaftv and releasably hold said shaft in aninoperative position, a brake rod connected with said shaft, means formoving said pawl out of engagement with said shaft to permit said shaftto move to an operative position, and means for returning said shaft toan inoperative position and permitting said pawl to engage said shaft.

4. in a brake operating system a cylinder, a slidable shaft passingthrough said cylinder, yieldable means normally holdings;

said shaft in an operative position, a tongue extending from saidcylinder, a pawl pivotally connected with said tongue, resilient meansnormally holding said pawl in a position to engage said shaft when saidshaft is moved to an inoperative position, means for moving said pawl toa position to release said shaft, means for returning said shaft to aposition for engagement by said pawl, and a brake rod connected withsaid shaft.

in a brake operating device a cylinder provided with a neck constitutinga spring" housing, .a slidable shaft passing through. said cylinder andneck, a piston head carried by said shaft within said cylinder, a springpositioned in said neck and encircling said shaft and having one end.engaging said piston head and the opposite end engaging the outer end ofsaid neck to normally hold said shaft in an operative position, meansfor connecting said shaft with a brake, means for releasably holdingsaid shaft in un inoperative position, and means for returning saidshaft to an inoperative position after being released from said lastmentioned means. v

o. In a brake operating device a cylinder, w slidable shaft passingthrough said cylinder, means yieldably holding said shaft in anoperative position, bracket carried by said cylinder, a lever pivotallyconnected with said bracket and having one end piv-- and means forconnecting said shaft with -a brake to set the brake when said shaftismoved to an operative position. v

7. In a brake operating device, ashaft,

a brake rod, a pivotally mounted lever having one end, pivotallyconnected with said shaft and the opposite end engaging said brake rodto move said brake rod to a'set position when said shaft is moved to anoperative position, resilient means yieldably holding saidshaft in anoperating position, pneumatic means for causing said shaft to graduallymove to an operative position, means for releasably holding said shaftin an inoperative position, and means for re turning said shaft to aninoperative position after moving to an operative position.

8. In a brake operating device, a cylinder, a slidable shaft passingthrough said cylmder, resilient means yieldably holding said shaft 1n anoperative position, a pivotally mounted lever, a catch extending fromsaid lever, means for yieldably h-oldsaid lever in a position for saidcatch to ing and releasably hold the engage said shaft same in aninoperative position, automatic means connected with the opposite endportion of sald first mentioned lever for manually moving the same to aposition to release said shaft, a second brake rod, an arm carried bysaid shaft and engaging said-second bra ke rod to move the same toanoperative position when said shaft is released, and means for movingsaid shaft to an inoperative position.

9. In a brake operating inechanism,. a

brake setting mechanism including a shaft said cylinder being providedand cylinder, with means for normally holding said shaft in an operativeposition and with means for returning said shaft to an inoperativeposition and releasably holding said shaft in an inoperative position, arotatable shaft, means for rotatably connecting said rotatable shaftwith the axle of a vehicle and normally holding the same in aninoperative position, said shaft having one end portion provided with afinger connected with the means carried by said cylinder for releasablyholding said first mentioned shaft in an inoperative position, theopposite end portion of said rotatable shaft being provided with alever, and air controlled means adapted for connection with the wheel ofa vehicle and including a trigger engaging the lever of said rotatableshaft when moved to an operative position for rotating said rotatableshaft and release said first mentioned shaft to permit the same to moveto an operative position and cause the brakes of the vehicle to be set.I

10. In a brake operating mechanism, a brake cylinder, a sliding shaftpassing through said cylinder, said cylinder being provided with meansfor yieldably holding said sliding shaft in an operative position andfor releasably holding the sliding shaft in an inoperative position, arotatable shaft comprising: an inner section, an outer secaieaeaa tion,an intermediate section, means con necting said sections for universalmovement to form a flexible shaft, means for retatably connecting the.inner and outer sections with the axle of a vehicle, resilient meansnormally holding said flexible shaft in an inoperative position,

ing from said inner section, means connecting said finger with the meansfor releasably holding said sliding shaft'in an inoperative position, alever extending from said outer section, and air controlled meansadapted for connection with the wheel of the vehicle and engaging saidlever when in an operative position to turn said flexible shaft to anoperative position and move the means releasably holding said slidingshaft in an inoperative .position and permit said sliding shaft to moveto an operative position..

11. In a brake operating mechanism a wheel device comprising a casing,means for connecting said casing with a wheel, a trigger pivotallyconnected with said casing and provided with a toothed head extendinginto the interior of said casing, a plunger slidably mountedin saidcasing provided with rack teeth engaging the teeth of said trigger tomove said trigger with said plunger, with upper and lower pockets, aspring mounted in said lower pocket and engaging the lower end of saidcasing for normally holding said plunger in an operative position, atubular rod slidably mounted in said casing and extending into the upperpocket of said plunger, an air sack positioned in said upper pocket andcommunicating with said tubular rod, and a conductor for consaid plungerbeing provided a finger extendicenecting said tubular rod with aninflatable tire whereby air under pressure in said tire 'will pass intosaid air sack and hold said operative position, said spring plunger inan plunger to an operative posimoving said tion when the air pressure isreleased and r1111- swinging said trigger to an operative position.

12. In a brake setting device, a casing, pivot ears carried by saidcasing adjacent an opening communicating with the interior of saidcasing, a plunger slidably mounted in said casing and provided withteeth fora ing a rack, resilient means for moving said plunger "to anoperative position, a trigger pivotally connected with said pivot earsand having its pivoted ends formed into a head provided with teethengaging the rack of said plunger, the opposite end portion of saidplunger from said resilient means being provided with a cut out formingapocket, a tubular rod slidably mounted in said casing and extending intosaid pocket, an air sack carried by the inner end portion of said rodandengaging the inner end of said pocket, a gland carried by said rodand tightiy into the outer end of said pocket, e three-Wey-valvecontrolling the passage of air through said tubular rod, and aconduitfor connecting said rod with an inflatable hire for permitting air underpessure in leading therefrom.

13. In a brake setting device, aeesing, a trigger pivotally connectedwith said oesing, and provided with e, head, a plunge'r slidably mountedin said casing and pro vided with a nick engaging the gear head of saidtrigger, resilient ?meens yieidably holding said plunger in e 'positionto move said trigger to an operative position, and air oossrolled meansfor yieldehly holding said plunger in e position to hold said. triggerin an inoperative position against the tension of said resilient means.i

14. In a brakeopereting mechanism, a

I easing, a trigger movably connected with said cesmg, means shdeblymounted in said casing and engaging said trigger to move ees the triggerwith said siidebly mounted means, resilient means yieldsbly holdingseid'slidably mounted means in a position to hold said trigger in. anoperative position, and air controlled means normally holding saidslidsbly mounted means in a position to hold said trigger in eninoperative position.

15. In a, brake seiting mechanism, a eas ing, a, trigger movably carriedby said ees ing, means slidebly mounted in said casing I and connectedwith sold trigger for causing.

said trigger to move with said siidehly mounted means, resilient meansin said cesinig engaging ssid slidebiy mounted means to move the someand move said trigger to an operative position, meens for regulating thetension of said resilient-means, and air controlled meansengeging saidplungerto move said plunger against the tension of said resilient meansto s position to move said trigger m an inoperative position. Intestimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN 'W. OCUNNGE. Witnesses:

JOSEPH V. HALLERAN, Joni: BEARINAN;

